Games, Toys and Pastimes

2020

With the current diversification of the "transmedia" practices within video game franchises like Pokémon, Yokai Watch or Starlink, industrial models of game production tend to converge with toys and other collectibles. However, as the diversification of video game-based commodities is becoming an obvious part of cultural consumption in Japan, the space envisioned by the circulation of these merchandises tends to be taken for granted. Where, then, does gaming intersect with merchandising? How does the distribution of game paraphernalia influence the design, game mechanics and consumption of video games? What space emerges when games and toys collide? This article proposes some points to study and problematize the daily invasion of everyday life space by game franchises in Japan with the example of the Snack World series. In light of Level 5's recent revival of the term "cross-media", I propose to explore the real and imagined geographies mobilized by Snack World's production model centered on transportable toys. As such, this examination of cross-media gestures towards a need to acknowledge the convergence of gaming histories with urban cultures: Level 5's practices testify of the gamification of a wide range of daily consumption acts. As walking the streets, eating snack food and playing Snack World becomes part of a pedestrian and casual experience monitored by cross-media franchises we must question how games are producing the very space of the everyday life.

Doctoral thesis, 2024

The 21st century has been described as the Century of Play. The change in current play is particularly noticeable when looking at technological developments. This thesis deals with the technologization, digitalization, and connectedness of play between 2010–2020. The research explores forms of contemporary play, playthings, and players in a time when digitalization and connectedness have extended to various tools and realms of play — devices, toys, games, apps, and mediated playful environments. At the heart of the research are playthings and technologies conceptualized here as play machines, players using these tools within their communities and contexts, and, due to technological evolution, play research that increasingly, expands our knowledge about How Play Moves Us physically, cognitively, and emotionally.

Digit Creat, 2009

Bio-Algorithms and Med-Systems, 2016

This paper discusses the level of acceptation of different kinds of computer games and the changes of the attitude depending on the respondents’ knowledge and context of playing activity. The forms of entertainment for the young generations are the extremely popular computer games. The main goal of this paper is to show the attitude of people toward the game industry and the correlation between the ways of spending spare time and the level of acceptation of computer games. The study is based on a questionnaire in which respondents could declare their opinions in open questions. The study included more than 60 parents, both men and women. It is not surprising that, despite the popularity of computer games, they still arouse much controversy, particularly as they relate to children. Collected parents’ opinions give the picture of the most important pros and cons of playing games and the goals and circumstances of the game activity. When respondents have been informed about term “serio...

International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health 2020; 7(5): 85-87, 2020

Gone are those days when the play fields used to be full of children, the sweet chaos caused by the small devils are long gone as these children have found a new way of keeping them busy and occupied. There life have become so virtual that rest other things have lost its meaning; the charm of playing together in the evening under the sky has been replaced by playing in front of consoles. With internet they are connecting with their peers are playing the game together, and this is the new kind of socialization. Many kind of diseases have appeared among the students which use to happen to people in their old age after retirement. Respiratory heart disease, cardiovascular disease and obesity are the common house hold names in our society. Children have lost the beauty and essence of their childhood and getting prone to uncountable diseases. Things can be brought back in track with the help of physical activities and by regularly playing games and sports. It's the duty of parents not to give them a video game console when their children cry rather gift them a sport for their better future.

therefore always considered as low art. The other reason is its comparision with other tradition media like films and literature. The more general denigration of 'mere entertainment' is also responsible for ignoring the seriousness of videogame.

Journal of Media Research, 2017

In our work we analyze the phenomenon of video games, their impact on art, media and society. At the beginning of our studies we sadly realized that most articles dealing with "new media" phenomenon starts with the hypothesis that video games are a new form of media (new media), which has not yet found a place on the multicolored palette of interactive multimedia and that is why they are misunderstood and unsupported by academic forums. Video games are a media phenomenon still "unsettled", which still has not found its place in global culture, but it has been over commercialized and therefore it is created a huge amount of video games that cannot be counted in real-time inventory-so it is understandable that relevant scientifical analysis are in delay and that these new media "species" are viewed with disfavour by fans of art, literature and traditional media. We assume that in short time there will be a new generation of interactive programs that can interact intelligently with people around them, and not just using predetermined algorithms or variables generated by chance-as they have done before.

The Internet of Toys (IoToys) is part of the growing world of the Internet of Things (IoT). While certain internet-connected toys are part of some children’s everyday experiences (such as toys-to-life which connect to video games), they are yet to become an everyday experience for most young children. Nonetheless, the diffusion of Internet-connected toys is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. The aim of this report is therefore twofold. First, we aim to provide a critical introduction to the Internet of Toys, by setting its conceptual boundaries and discussing the theoretical, methodological and policy challenges it raises. Second, we aim to report on the findings of a small comparative project we have carried out as part of the activities of Working Group 4 of the COST Action DigiLitEY. At this stage, Internet-connected toys are an emerging market, thus making empirical research on their appropriation and use in the everyday lives of children and their families difficult. As a consequence, and in order to understand whether and how IoToys have entered play discourses, we examine the discursive environment of smart toys, i.e. its representations in media commentaries and commercial advertisements. Analysing these representations help us to understand how the opportunities and risks of IoToys are constructed and framed. It also shed lights on the production and design of internet connected-toys, as well as on their reception. In conveying meanings, values and identities, representations are central to how new technological artefacts are produced and consumed (du Gay et al., 1997): in other words, discursive constructions of IoToys construct ideal users and uses that feed into parents’ and children’s imaginaries, and inform social expectations and anxieties at large. Previous research has shown that media representations around children and the Internet (and associated lay discourses) shape parents’ perceptions of online risks and opportunities and, ultimately, children’s own experiences with new technologies (Mascheroni et al., 2014).

Games and Culture, 2006

Video games are a new art form, and this, the author argues, is one good reason why now is the right time for game studies. As a new art form, one largely immune to traditional tools developed for the analysis of literature and film, video games will challenge researchers to develop new analytical tools and will become a new type of "equipment for living," to use Kenneth Burke's phrase for the role of literature. This article discusses several of the features that make video games a unique art form, features that will, the author believes, come to play a role in analyses of games in the emerging field of game studies.

Routledge eBooks, 2014